Born on 22 July: Steve Albini, the ultimate benchmark of American alternative rock

He was born in Pasadena (California) in 1962 and died on 7 May 2024. He leaves behind an abrupt and demanding repertoire and dozens of productions.

He has never been content to take on the role of singer and guitarist for the many incarnations of deliberately alternative rock. From Big Black to Shellac to Rapeman, Steve Albini has always opted for the raw energy of a trio centred around his sometimes noisy, sometimes downright hardcore guitar playing. Even if his latest project, Shellac, can be considered more peaceful, the lyrics are still full of f*** words and the general theme continues to be the failings of the human race. ‘How many people did you kill’, he said in Tattoos on Shellac's testament album To All Trains, released in 2024. It makes you wonder whether Albini wasn't taking a malicious pleasure in trying to obtain the Explicit label for as many of his compositions as possible!

With rare humility, the guru of ‘indie production’, himself a self-taught musician, has often explained that his job was to support the artists he chose to work with. To the point of often refusing to see his name appear in the credits. Nonetheless, the ‘Albini sound’, characterised by a bass that takes centre stage and vocals that often take a back seat, is very much a reality. A crusader against the business ‘that distorts everything and makes artists dependent’, the Don Quixote of production has brought his light to around a thousand bands on both sides of the Atlantic. While he made his mark on Nirvana's ‘In Utero’ (1993), he has also worked with the likes of The Jesus Lizard, Neurosis, Elysian Fields, Mogwai, PJ Harvey, Bush, The Auteurs, Hugh Cornwell (former lead singer of The Stranglers) and even Jimmy Page & Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin). In Europe, France and Belgium, he has performed alongside the likes of Dionysos, Les Thugs, Chevreuil, Ogives, Dead Man Ray and Cocaïne Piss.

Steve Albini died on 7 May 2024 of a heart attack while working in his recording studio, Electrical Audio, founded in Chicago in 1995. So long Steve, you would have been 63 today...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart / Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Steve Albini with Big Black on stage at Les Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels (Belgium) in 1986